The Halloween Incident

Peter was always overlooked.

For readers of the Harry Potter books, Peter was an unforgettable character no matter what. But when I was actually in the wizarding world, it was almost hard to notice he existed. Apart from the time I transmigrated into Peter, I often overlooked him too, unless I deliberately went looking for him.

I wasn't very familiar with the Marauders, Peter included. Whenever I was in Slytherin, Peter had happened to go to Gryffindor, so I had only a vague impression of him—he wasn't very clever, couldn't do anything right, and was so timid that the slightest disturbance could make him scream. It was as though he existed in this world just to show how perfect everyone else was.

"Incredible things always happen on Halloween," I said in a low voice, waving my wand. "Scourgify."

The next moment, the Pumpkin Juice vanished completely from his cloak. And not just the Pumpkin Juice—his entire cloak became clean and neat.

"Happy Halloween, Peter." I slipped a piece of candy into his palm, then turned and left before he could look up.

I couldn't stop myself from helping him, even though I knew it wouldn't change anything. But I didn't want him to see who had helped him, either. James was the one who accepted Peter, and I didn't want to steal the credit.

I turned and left, looking quite dashing as I walked away, but in reality, the moment I quickly pushed open the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, I leaned against the stone wall and slid straight down to the floor. I kept taking deep breaths as large patches of black spots appeared before my eyes, as if my blood sugar were low.

Normally, Scourgify wouldn't have left me this drained, but for some reason it worked exceptionally well this time. As a result, the system judged once again that I had used magic beyond what was appropriate for my age, and I had nearly fainted the moment I got up. Trash system, fuck you!

I sat on the floor for quite a while before I recovered. I was still a little dizzy and my vision was blurry, but at least I could get up. Holding on to the wall, I made my way through the twisting passages of the Chamber of Secrets and back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

It was nearly the usual curfew, and normally the place would have been full of people, but because of the Halloween Feast, the common room was empty. I rolled my shoulders and headed toward one of the cubicles to tidy up the homework I'd finished earlier, but the instant I stepped inside, I heard a voice from the other side of the partition.

"Merlin."

The voice suddenly breaking the silence of the common room made my hand jerk. I was about to go out and see who was on the other side, but as soon as I took a step, the voice spoke again.

"Don't come over yet. There's something I want to tell you."

I finally recognized Remus's voice, and his words stopped me in my tracks.

"I won't come over." I didn't know why he sounded so solemn, but I stopped. In fact, I took two steps back and deliberately moved a chair to make some noise. "I've sat down. Just tell me what's on your mind."

I didn't know whether the sound of my footsteps had made Remus think I'd left, but after saying that, he fell silent for a long time and didn't say another word. Just as I was wondering whether to tell him I hadn't gone out and had only stepped back, he spoke again.

"About last time... I'm sorry."

His voice was so quiet it was barely audible. If we hadn't been the only two people in the common room, I really wouldn't have heard what he said.

"What?" Unfortunately, even though I'd heard him, I still didn't understand. "What about last time? Why are you apologizing all of a sudden?" As I said that, I suddenly remembered how Remus had been looking at me thoughtfully these past few days, only to look away whenever I glanced at him. I hadn't paid attention to it at the time, but now it seemed it was because he felt he'd done something to wrong me?

"It was when we were in the Hospital Wing before..." His voice grew even quieter, and I couldn't hear anything he said after that. But the next moment, he seemed to gather his courage, and his voice returned to its usual volume. "Back in the Hospital Wing, I knew you were getting me out of an awkward situation. I wanted to say all along that I wouldn't go." His courage seemed to deflate, and his voice slid downhill like my losing streaks in a game's promotion matches. "But I never managed to say it. By the time I finally could, Madam Pomfrey had come over."

His words were halting and disjointed, but I understood. I finally understood why he'd looked so nervous then, and why he'd barely spoken to me these past few days.

"Lupin, it's not good to keep things bottled up all the time." I laughed. "I'm not as good as you think. When I said that, I really did hope you could go watch Quidditch with them. I didn't mean anything else by it. And I don't think you need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. If you ever..."

"I'm sorry!"

I hadn't finished speaking when he apologized again, this time in a voice louder than usual. The sudden increase in volume startled me so much that I forgot what I'd been about to say.

"Can you forgive me?" I had no idea how to answer, and my mind was a mess. As Remus pressed me for an answer under those circumstances, I had the strange feeling that he was moving closer to me, and I instinctively edged backward.

"I don't think you've done anything wrong, Lupin, I..."

"If you don't forgive me, I'll keep apologizing."

I took back what I'd thought about Remus being gentle and easy to talk to. He was apologizing, so why did he seem so forceful?

"I'm sorry, Merlin. Can you forgive me?" he repeated patiently. By now, the nervousness had disappeared from his voice, while I was starting to get nervous.

"O-of course." For some reason, I stuttered a little. "You don't have to take it so seriously. It's not a big deal."

Remus let out a long breath when he heard me agree, and his voice grew shy again.

"In that case, we're friends now, right? Merlin, you can call me Re..."

"So this is where you two are?"

Remus's voice was cut off by James's enthusiastic one. The sudden interruption startled me, and I turned to see that James had returned to the common room at some point, carrying a large paper bag. "I brought you lots of Halloween candy. Want some?"

"...When did you come in?" Remus emerged from behind the partition.

"A little while ago, I think?" James tilted his head, looking as though he were trying to remember, but soon flopped onto the sofa, relaxed, his voice unhurried. "Sirius was surrounded by a lot of people, and he kept hoping I'd help him out..." He burst out laughing. "So I left him there on his own."

"What a good friend." I applauded.

"So, do you want some candy? I got a whole bunch." James pointed at the paper bag on the table. "There's so much, it feels like it'll last until next Halloween." As he spoke, he looked up and glanced behind me. "Remus?"

"..." Remus was silent for a moment before nodding. "Thanks."

"No problem." James smiled, looking quite pleased.

I took a pumpkin-shaped lollipop from the paper bag and popped it into my mouth. As I bit into it, I suddenly remembered that Remus had seemed to be saying something to me before James spoke. But James had interrupted so suddenly that I'd forgotten what it was.

It probably wasn't anything important. Otherwise, Remus would surely repeat it.

[Author's note]

★Tip★

Before entering a route, if the person selected for a holiday romance event is the person with the highest current affection, the full romance storyline will play out. If they don't have the highest current affection, other people with higher affection will have a chance of appearing and interrupting the romance event. So if you want to switch targets midway, make sure to occupy the other people with high affection beforehand using other events or people.

★Side quest reminders★

* Congratulations on earning Remus's romance achievement: [Friends]

* Congratulations on triggering James's Halloween romance event

* Congratulations on triggering Remus's Halloween romance event

* Congratulations on triggering Snape and Lily's Halloween reconciliation event